(Greek Revithia Soup = Chickpea Soup with Lemon and Olive Oil – is an old recipe that has been removed from my site, but I am leaving the printer-friendly recipe in case people were fans of the recipe. Check out Garbanzo Bean Soup with Garlic, Sumac, Olive Oil, and Lemon for another chickpea soup with similar flavors.)

(makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 cup dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans) soaked 12-18 hours
1 onion, chopped into pieces about 1/4 inch
1 T + 3 T olive oil (preferably Greek olive oil for this dish)
1 tsp. dried Greek oregano
1 tsp. dried parsley
8 cups water
1 tsp. salt, or a bit more (I used Vege-sal)
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (more or less to taste; I like a lot of lemon flavor)

Instructions:

Pick over dried chickpeas and remove any stones or debris, then put beans in pan and cover with cold water and let soak 12-18 hours. (If you start soaking the beans when you go to bed and then make this soup mid afternoon for the next night’s dinner, that’s an easy way to manage the long soaking time.) When ready to make soup, drain beans and discard soaking water.

Heat olive oil in the bottom of a heavy dutch oven or soup pot, then add onion and saute for about 5 minutes, until onion is softened but not browned. Add Greek Oregano, parsley, and water, bring to a simmer, then lower heat and simmer gently with the pan covered until beans are very soft. The time this takes will depend on how fresh your beans are, but plan on about 2-3 hours.

When beans are soft, use a blender or immersion blender to puree the mixture until all ingredients are completely blended. (I love my immersion blender, and highly recommend it for pureeing hot liquids like this. If you use a regular blender, be very careful not to fill it too full so the hot liquid doesn’t burn you.)

After soup is pureed, add salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Then stir in lemon juice and 2 T of the olive oil. Serve hot, with a bit more olive oil drizzled on the top of each serving.

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